False Negative
by Wildeve of the Heath
Summary: Before the Jaegers were built, there was the system called the Drift. It was the newest technology adapted for military use outside fighter jets, however, it was in its infancy. Mistakes were made along the way and one of them would cost Hanji Zoe dearly for the rest of her life. Hanji/Ilse
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or Pacific Rim.

False Negative

Before the Jaegers were built, there was the system called the Drift. It was the newest technology adapted for military use outside fighter jets, however, it was in its infancy. Mistakes were made along the way and one of them would cost Hanji Zoe dearly for the rest of her life.

Set before UltraViolet.

Hanji-central fic, Hanji/Ilse

* * *

"These are your pilots," Erwin started, the two women before here were almost alike, yet at the same time they were starkly different. "Show them around, make sure they are fit for duty, get them acquainted with the Drift some more."

Ilse Langnar.

She was a tall woman, same height as the other. Her hair was shoulder length and pitch black, her eyes a nice, cool gray that held a strong curiosity of the world around her. She was of slender build but despite that, there was a sense of strength both mentally and physically. Upon closer inspection, there was a light scar under her eye, perhaps she had gotten into a fight years ago.

Next to her was someone unsavory.

Ymir Langnar.

Unlike her sister, she was of a stronger build, her physical attributes accentuated from wearing only a white tank top issued by the Program. Her almost golden eyes blazed like wildfire, just like those from her hometown in the summer. They had seen life, too much of it from a young person, and they screamed maliciousness. Another feature was her freckles, there was so much in abundance compared to Ilse.

Hanji smiled at both of them, she offered her hand to Ilse. "I'm Doctor Hanji Zoe, Head Researcher of the Program. I'll be your Coordinator."

Ilse returned that smile and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"No need for that, just call me Hanji."

Hanji went to Ymir but was ignored and given only a glare.

The scientist closed her palm and chuckled softly,"We'll work on that, Ymir."

"Be careful with them, it's difficult to find people compatible with one another," Levi's voice warned them- he was always by Erwin's side, he kept a vigilant watch over all the Ragners that entered the Program. "If you manage to dissect them, we'll throw you back into that lecture hall we found you in."

"Of course they'll be safe," Hanji assured him, she tossed him a grin. "Now, if it isn't so much, mind if I show them around?"

"Dismissed," Erwin said.

The two of them picked up their bags and hauled them over their shoulders.

"Come on!" Hanji said rather enthusiastically, she walked between them and picked up a fast pace- they both flanked her as they entered a hallway.

As they headed down the corridor and reached a lift, Ymir finally spoke, and when she did, it seemed crass,"Mind if I smoke, Doc?"

"Ymir!" Ilse chided her. "We just got here! Last thing I want is to have your discharged for bad misconduct!"

Hanji thought for a moment, then shrugged,"I don't see why not. People are more concerned about the Kaiju rather than maintaining laws. Besides, we're technically on international ground. Anywhere outside and you're in the United States."

The sound of a lighter being flicked went on for a moment, then the lift was filled with the stench of menthol. Hanji did not mind it, after all, she worked with much worse smells every day. Once the lift got down to the floor with the barracks, the doors slid open and they were in a hall of metal doors. Hanji led them to the fifth door on the right.

"You'll be sharing a bunk with each other but home's home," Hanji said,"you can live off the premises but only if you're off duty. Given how many Rangers we have at the moment, you can be given leave if needed. Kaiju attacks are months apart, though it doesn't hurt to be ready."

"How many teams we got?" Ymir asked as Hanji opened the door.

Inside was a pair of bunk beds and some space to keep few furnishings. Ilse took the bottom, leaving her stuff there, while Ymir chucked her stuff on the top bed.

"We have dozens of teams but here, we have over five right now, including you. We're ready to fight...well, once we can figure out the configuration of the Drift to the Jaegers. We're seeing great progress but like all prototypes, we need to do some test runs," Hanji recalled, she then checked her watch and began to back out. "I'll be back here tomorrow at 0800, you two just rest and if you need to eat, there's a schedule posted on the door for meal times. See you ladies later!"

-...-

Hanji arrived home a few hours later than she anticipated.

Half asleep, she slapped a couple files onto the nightstand to read for later as she undid the tie she wore and tossed it into a hamper. Her hands deftly undid the buttons on her button-down, then she stumbled a bit getting her slacks off. Shoes cast aside, she grabbed a large shirt and wore it for comfort. The work she had to put in today made her forget to eat yet exhaustion overpowered hunger and so she slid under the covers of her large bed.

Leaving the lamp on, she decided to review the files on her newest pair of pilots.

Her eyes were lidded as she reread their profiles. Their degrees, specializations, everything was written on paper. Sighing, she turned the pages and found them to be somewhat disqualified to an extent. No military training, no proper combat experience, they seemed to be like average citizens who excelled in education.

Both were almost qualified engineers but the next file told why they were denied.

At this point, her mind began to drift out of consciousness.

She tossed their profiles aside and went through their case.

Hanji frowned, how can these people be qualified to be part of the Program?

Ilse, yes, she seemed to be the tamer one of the two but Ymir seemed to be too much of a loose-canon. Then again, she was not the one to judge, just get them settled in and primed to fight.

Soon enough, her eyes began to close and she fell asleep.

Only a few hours passed when her phone erupted into a blaring tone that got her startled and reaching around desperately for it. It was charging at her nightstand, she ripped it from the adapter and slid on the screen. She managed to blunder her words,"Whazzit?"

"Hanji! Get your ass over here!" It was Levi.

"Huh?"

"One of your pilots damn near killed another pilot!"

Hanji barely had a moment to register what he just said- she was still in that daze. Without a mind to take in what he shouted at her, she blurted out,"Be right there," and hung up.

She rushed about her room, taking off her shirt to wear her usual one while finding her slacks. It was a lot harder to do this in the dark but thankfully her glasses were still on her head as she burst out of her door and grabbed her keys and wallet that were left in the kitchen. She rushed for her car and frantically shoved her keys into the ignition and immediately drove.

-...-

It takes about thirty minutes to reach the Shatterdome on a normal day. But in the late of night in Los Angeles, and by taking side streets, it took only two thirds of that time, plus she was speeding.

She was now fully awake as she was finally heading to the lift when she pulled out her phone. She got a text from Levi to meet him in the brig two floors below ground level. Hands shaking out of wonder of what to do or say, she took out her access card and slid it through the slot by two iron doors. Within seconds, the doors slid open easily and an armed guard addressed her.

"Doctor, this way," he said, she nodded and followed closely.

After several turns, she ended up in the furthest most cell.

Now that she thought about it, these cells were unoccupied- no one was meant to be in here yet the higher ups seemed to think it was best to have them. She expected the pilots in the Program to be disciplined yet here she was possibly handling the first case of an assault.

Levi stood with his back against the glass wall, arms crossed. The brig was not designed like a typical prison, they had glass walls and doors instead of bars; shareholders must have had a design team working on this. Next to him was Ilse as she stood parallel to Levi, her arm propping her against the wall in front of her.

"...I know, Ymir, but we...she's here," Ilse said.

The gray-eyed woman stood back and kept herself at a distance from Levi as Hanji huffed upon her arrival. While wiping her brow, Hanji realized she was still wearing her robes from home. Goodness, how will she assert her dominance?

"It's three in the morning, I rarely get sleep and I'd really love to know what this is about," Hanji said firmly. "So...what happened?"

She glanced at Ymir to see her take a seat on the corner of the bed; the toilet was nearby so she propped one foot atop the rim. She was still in her civilian clothes as of earlier that day, or was it yesterday? Hell, Hanji had no idea what day it even was.

"She assaulted Reiner Braun," Ilse immediately answered,"she...took a sparring match too far."

"I only broke his nose, not fucking killed the guy," Ymir snorted.

"You were choking him with a sparring pole!" Levi barked.

"I was gonna let him go!" She countered. "Like Ilse said, it was just a sparring match!"

Hanji pinched the bridge of her nose as she turned away, a frustrated sigh escaped her. Damn, if only she read the last file before she passed out- she would have a better way to understand the situation, or at least know what Ymir's motives were. She could not tell if Ymir was lying, if she were then there would be ramifications.

"Alright, alright," Hanji started, she faced Ymir once more. "What exactly happened?"

"That fucking asshole-"

"Braun," Ilse corrected.

"-catcalled Ilse when she and I were sparring. Late night shit, y'know? He fucking keeps going on, so I challenged him. Took him down, broke his nose for good measure, and just wanted to teach him a lesson," Ymir stated, though there was anger laced in her voice. "Thought this Program would have professionals!"

"So Ymir was provoked," Hanji figured.

"It does not matter," Levi deadpanned. "She had intent to seriously injure Ranger Braun, should Ranger Fubar not have spoken to me, there would have been a death. Erwin can not be reached at the moment so I threw her here. Surely there will be punishment."

"I know, I know..."

"Well?"

"Doctor," Ilse interrupted, Hanji and Levi looked at her. "...in Ymir's defense, just let her go on this one."

"No," Levi said firmly,"she will stay here until we figure out what to do."

Hanji placed her hands on her hips as she paced for a moment before finally speaking,"Look, Levi, you did what you did and I appreciate that you were here to do it, but these are my pilots and they are my responsibility."

"Regardless, I have to tell Erwin."

"No, let me, just go back to your bunk and take the night off, you've done enough."

He scoffed and turned heel; Hanji knew that he was keen on maintaining order and structure, it was the only thing he could do. It was enough that he had to keep watch over Eren and Mikasa but it was even more to be Erwin's hand in keeping the peace. Whether it be worker disputes or Rangers getting into a brawl, Levi was always there to stop it.

In truth, he was a deadly man and just as he was dangerous, he was smart as well. Though not as properly educated as her, she was always in awe of his ability to read others in ways she was not formally trained to do. Unlike him, she preferred to talk.

When the doors slid closed behind him, Hanji looked upon the two women; one was looked like an animal in a cage, seething and waiting to be let loose, where the other was just a normal person.

"Ilse," Hanji addressed her, the woman remained quiet as she brought her attention on to her,"would you mind explaining to me why Ymir is placed here in the brig but not in...say an interrogation room like we would normally do so?"

"To you people, she is a danger," was all she could answer.

"Danger or not, a person is still a person," Hanji murmured, she was moving to the door. To her, it was demeaning to keep someone in a cell, it was better to hear the truth properly on civilized terms.

As her hand was raised to touch the sensor, Ilse told her,"That's not what we were told."

Hanji stopped midway, she glanced at her but then heard a grunt from the cell. "Excuse me?"

Ymir bluntly pointed out,"The smart doctor did not read the files on us. I'm telling you, Ilse, these people aren't professionals. Not even the Head of Research can do proper research, not even on her own assets!"

So even the sister was as quick as Levi to call out a fault. Then again, Hanji had made it apparent she did not know.

"So...you think you can talk to me on an even level?" Ymir asked, she smirked at her as Hanji kept her eyes trained on the woman; her hand was still in the air. "Let me out of the brig, have us go to your office and talk it out-"

"Ymir!" Ilse snapped in a firm voice, Ymir's smirk fell and she became silent as her sister rushed to Hanji and grabbed her by her wrist. "Doctor...Ymir is not a bad person, she really isn't. She tends to lose her temper and it's just that it got a bit out of hand this time...I mean, it's your call whether or not to let her out. Just...think carefully."

What was there to think about?

Hanji had no idea who these two women truly were.

If Ilse were not there to stop Ymir from taunting her, Hanji would have stormed away- she wanted these two to work with her, not against her. And right now, after than when they first met, this was the only time she had interacted with them. Well, as her mother once said- always make a good impression. Hanji nodded and then Ilse let her go.

She pressed her hand against the sensor and the security protocols allowed the door of Ymir's cell to slide open.

"Man, I was starting to enjoy being in there," Ymir snidely remarked; she got out of the bed and strode out the cell. She stopped by Hanji's side, she glanced at Ilse for a brief moment before walking away. "I'm done for the day, I'll be in our bunk."

"Ran-" Hanji started, confused, but Ilse shook her head.

The doors opened and then closed.

"...should she get an escort?" Hanji inquired.

Ymir...was strange, a mystery but one that Hanji should not be seeing her as. If only she read the damn file...

"...again, your call," Ilse sighed, to this Hanji decided to not make that call. "I've been meaning to talk to you, Doctor, is there a place we can speak to one another alone?"

Hanji nodded, the sleep that was crawling over her body was gone. Now she was awake, awake enough to figure out what the hell was going on. As Ymir had left, she felt that there was no use in calling a guard; it would provoke her again.

"Yeah, I know a place...come."

-...-

The lounge was a nice, quiet place when it was empty.

When she needed to relax or work on a problem in peace, she normally would go there. No one would imagine her being here of all places as she stayed in the laboratories. It was an illusion she built up so that in case the need to deflate arose, she could hide away for a while. Only the higher-ups had permission to come here and they were only there in the day.

Around this hour as she learned from one of the clocks in the hallway along the path, no one was there. It was normally at this time she would be still working.

Night owl and all.

They were both seated near the large aquarium of saltwater fish, all of which were exotic.

"Glad to know that the Program is spending surplus on lounges like these," Ilse commented as she watched a puffer drift by.

"These are actually from my private collection and I paid for it myself," Hanji corrected her. "Consider it a donation."

"But the maintenance and cleaning crew, those aren't from you."

Hanji's shoulders dropped as her hands busied themselves to mix some coffee. It was hard enough to go to sleep on her own and now that she was awake and here, she may as well stay up. "Is this what you consider talking? Criticizing where our funds are allocated? You can take it up to Erwin when you have the time."

"I did not mean to offend," Ilse told her yet there was not a hint of sincerity in her tone. "I want to speak to you because of what you said this morning. The Jaegers are all prototypes, even our own."

"Essentially, all of them are, not once had humanity ever thought of creating such machines until now," Hanji told her as she finished up making the coffee. She handed one mug to her and then sat down across from her.

"And all prototypes need testing," Ilse echoed, Hanji nodded as she took a tentative sip of the brew. "Considering our status, I take it my sister and I will be the first in line to test the system out to its fullest."

Hanji thought back to how Erwin debriefed her. Since she was Head of Research, it was only logical for the Program to designate her two essential guinea pigs. For her to be in direct connection with the pilots for the approaching test was a decision unanimously made. After all, she was one of the few who knew the inner-most workings yet at the same time she would be putting theory into practice.

There were two instances in which the Pons System had ended in failure. One of which was a Captain who attempted to Drift alone with the unit, he ended up with his brain fried. Another tried to attempt it once more with a new pilot, alone, but the creator of the Pons System had a split second to alleviate the problem- while the Drift was successful for a window of a few minutes, the damage was extensive to the pilot and the woman who created the System.

All in all, it somehow worked and needed to be refined.

While the Langnars will not be the first to test it out, they may possibly be the first to not suffer adverse effects.

"That is correct," was all she could say.

Now, about that status...

"Yet...you may be possibly be sending us to our deaths," Ilse concluded.

"That...is something I know not. The probability-"

"Are you familiar with history? A learned person such as yourself ought to be."

"Pardon?"

"You are not then. I've done my own research on you, Doctor. Acclaimed Biologist, Bioengineer, and Neurologist of Standford, has published so many papers and yet has few ideas on the concept of war...or perhaps you do and you're just playing ignorant."

Hanji brought the mug to her lips again, though her brows furrowed. She was told that they were selected for the primary tests but not yet why. That folder she should have read could have given her some sort of inference...

She took a gulp of her coffee and then told her,"I am not playing. In truth...I was given the information about you two specifically but I have yet to look over it."

"Then you do not know of the old ways in which prisoners were used as footmen in battle. That is what you are doing to us."

"Are you trying to elicit empathy from me?"

"No, I am just telling you the facts."

"You obviously know more about this than I would ever and I take it that this is a decision that is not optional for you two," Hanji figured aloud. The woman in front of her had eyes fixated on her but there was something within them that Hanji could not discern. "What brought you here?"

"A way out. I'm surprised that given our past, we are not escorted by security constantly. Suppose they only let the higher-ups know who we really are or what they think we are. We're murderers, Doctor, and we are here to do our time," Ilse stated, she had not touched her coffee. "Does it bother you?"

"...I believe in knowing the person instead of treating them like animals is the best way to gain compliance," was all she could say, in truth, she never did handle the clinical patients, much less criminals. Yet here she was, drinking coffee before a killer; oddly, she did not seem bothered by it. "Were you forced here?"

Ilse shook her head. "We volunteered and we were accepted, though to you people we are more as disposable assets."

"Why bring up the old ways about prisoners in wars? You wouldn't bring it up if you weren't bothered by it."

"I brought it up because I want to save my sister," she said,"I do not want her to die."

Hanji scoffed. "Either way, once this project takes off, your deaths will be in a Jaeger either through malfunction or Kaiju. You want to sister to not die and here you both are, in the position where millions could be lost but you are what guards the doorstep. I cannot change the circumstances in which you have placed yourselves in."

"We have the option to retract ourselves from the Program but we would be back behind bars."

"Alright then, let me ask you this: do you want to die fighting or do you want to rot away in prison in which there is no room to fight as you wait for your deaths?"

At this, Ilse stood up, she placed her hands on the table and leaned forward, close enough that Hanji could see the little specks in her gray eyes. Her voice lowered as she whispered,"All I want is for you to not treat my sister as a disposable asset."

And with that, she headed for the door.

That was her answer.

These two were going to stay and fight.

She sipped her coffee as the doors slid closed.

In the end, she did not have to read the files.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or Pacific Rim

* * *

She spent hours mulling over what Ilse said.

When Hanji emerged from the lounge, horns were rung as the workforce got back to their strenuous welding. She could smell metal clearer than she could see without her glasses. Still dressed in her robes, she made her way to her office where she kept spare clothes.

She tossed her robes onto her chair and headed for a panel on her desk. Pressing on it allowed the small closet to the right to open and reveal several clothes. She removed her shirt and realized she had no bra on, her hands felt around until she got to a small drawer to pull back and at least, by luck, find one bra to spare.

And she did.

As she slipped it on, the door opened to her office.

"What?" She asked as she clipped the back. Her hand reached to pull a pale, yellow dress-shirt off a hanger to wear. She turned to face who entered as she buttoned up herself.

"Did you tell Erwin?"

Goddamn Levi.

"You're pretty adamant to let him know about this."

"I will if you don't."

She sighed as she left two buttons undone and then did her cuffs. "I will, just relax and do whatever you do...like kick that Eren."

"He isn't off trying to kill the next person he sees," he huffed as he closed the door and leaned against it, arms crossed,"so I have enough time to make sure the safety of everyone."

A lab coat was left on her chair, it was messy but at least it would work. She slipped that on and finally faced him as she looked decent but he still frowned.

"Your pajamas."

She looked down and groaned softly, she turned and looked back in her closet once more. There was only jeans for casual wear, well, that should do for now. She shucked off her pajamas and got her pants on, then she got her key card clipped onto her chest and then presented herself to him once again,"Better?"

"Slippers."

Hanji rolled her eyes- she was smart but damn she was forgetful about her own self. Lucky for her, there were some spare Vans at the bottom of her closet. Well, no socks for today. She kicked off her slippers and got her shoes on.

"Now am I ready to meet with Erwin?"

"Yes, now fucking go already- he's waiting for you. Jesus, a full-grown adult and you can't fucking dress yourself."

"If I could, I'd come to work naked."

"Freak."

-...-

Hanji never liked being forced to do what others demand her to.

That would be a contradicting statement considering she worked under an organization in which the entire planet demanded her to save them. She placed herself in this position considering she had grown bored of normal biology. Normal was anything that lived on planet Earth, Kaiju, however, were definitely not normal. While they represented creatures familiar to mankind, they were far from them.

Very far.

Hanji loved making discoveries.

And that's what Kaiju are, a new discovery for her to unlock and understand.

Then again, the fate of humanity rested in her ability to figure the enemy out.

No, being forced to do what others demand her to when she felt that she can do it on her own time, that was what she never liked.

And here she was, just about to enter Erwin's office where she had to address the issue of the early morning. The guards let her go and she went in to find Erwin looking through the glass window; he was watching the progress on a Jaeger.

From the framework, it was the Titan, the Langnar's Jaeger.

"Erwin," she greeted him.

"Hanji," he replied- only when they were alone they addressed each other informally.

"I suppose Levi told you already?"

"No, but I am aware it has to do with our newest Rangers," he said. He turned around and went to sit in his chair, he gestured for her to sit opposite of him.

She complied.

"Well?"

Hanji exhaled and leaned back, her hands resting on her stomach as she folded her fingers together. "Ymir, my Ranger, assaulted Ranger Braun early this morning. He provoked her by harassing her sister and her response was to break his nose and attempt to suffocate him. Naturally, given Levi's background, he threw her into the brig and kept her there until I arrived to assess the situation."

"And you believe that she did not mean to kill him so you released her from the brig?"

"It was my choice, I see it as a misunderstanding," was all she could say. "I spoke to Ilse afterwards, privately."

"Alone?" He seemed surprised.

"Yes, alone," she went on.

"And what did she say?"

"To quote her, she does not want us to treat her sister as a disposable asset," Hanji recalled.

"Unfortunately, that is exactly what she is, as is Ilse," Erwin confessed,"I take it you read the file. Surely you know how dangerous they are and why they are disposable."

Hanji shook her head.

While she had one conversation with Ilse, she understood their mindset but not their story completely. To Erwin, she could not lie to him, not ever. But at the same time, she had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind- when Ilse told her of her demand, she felt bothered. She was bothered enough to stay in the lounge and contemplate her words.

She was not uncomfortable over the fact that she sipped coffee in front of a criminal, she was bothered over how others were treating them. What sort of thing happened for them to have such mindsets?

Now she was curious.

"I read about who they are but not what they have been charged with. Was it something severe to land them here?"

"It was not that they landed here, they were given a choice and they decided to come here," Erwin began, he reached for a touch screen on his desk and caused the slides over the windows to close themselves. He then touched another screen and pulled out holograms of various photos; crime scene photos. "Two years ago, these two murdered two other people in their hometown.

"By confession, Ymir murdered two individuals. One was her girlfriend at the time and then the other was a man whom the girlfriend was having an affair with. Ilse played into this because she was an accomplice, she attempted to help Ymir hide the bodies but neighbors grew suspicious; both were charged for first degree murder and sentenced to death row."

Hanji nodded as she sat up and reached to touch the hologram to wave through the images. She went through crime scene photos, then the mugshots of the two, and finally their official records.

"Let me guess, before execution, they were given one more court hearing and they were given a deal to go into the Program."

"Indeed. Before their crime, Ilse had recently received her doctorate in Bioengineering and Ymir was not so far behind her in Engineering; both volunteered to be in the Program when it was founded. Unfortunately, after they were convicted, they were stripped of their degrees but their education is a valuable asset for us and so we struck a deal with them after we received their blueprints. If you did not know, they were the ones who designed Titan; then again there are numerous stipulations in regards to having them here."

"Go on."

"They are still bound by the law and are property of the United States government; given they are still felons, they must partake in the Program beyond being designers and engineers. They must be who we test our devices to, hence they are Rangers to the government but, as Ilse said, they are disposable assets to us as well."

At this, Hanji grimaced, she withdrew her hand from the holograms and stared at him in disbelief. "...I don't feel comfortable in doing this, Erwin."

"Progress is progress for the sake of science, did you not say that yourself?"

"But at the cost of human life, that doesn't apply-"

"We are fighting against beasts that are far from human, Hanji. If you do not remember, we lost three people to the Jaegers, all three of which were valuable individuals who had military experience and yours. One of them is who you replaced. We cannot afford to lose valuable people and why not use those who are meant to be put to death to begin with-"

"-these are civilians, Erwin, not animals we can subject to experiments mindlessly!" She stood up, her voice rose.

"You are forgetting that they are criminals and we are in a war," he said calmly. "They sealed their fates when they took lives. Now they are a danger to the general public, they will not be missed if they perish either by Jaeger or by lethal injection."

She could not believe what she was hearing. When she agreed to come into the Program, she knew of the risks and what she would be doing; when they lost three lives, she knew that at that point they would have seen improvement in their method. She did not expect to go beyond ethical boundaries.

As if to hammer the nail to the coffin, he added,"They are no longer civilians, they are now soldiers and, like soldiers, they have put their lives on the line to see this project through."

She paced around, she tended to do this when she was tense. She finally stopped, hands at her hips. "...when they consented to being soldiers, were you aware that they had no choice? That they wanted to get a ticket out of death row?"

"More or less."

"And you still gave them death row but now it's disguised as a military tour," she spat, disgusted.

Erwin kept his eyes trained on her as she scoffed and continued on in her pacing. "If you are so concerned for their well-being then I suppose that it will motivate you to not kill them. Again, just as I told you when you first came here, the outcome of this project depends on your ability to see this through every step of the way. Before we lose any more people, whether they be actual civilians or Rangers, we have to take risks."

"I have no call in this, don't I?"

"No, you don't. Dismissed."

She paused as she protested,"Erwin-"

"Don't make me regret hiring a civilian for conducting research."

-...-

The sample from San Francisco was one she spent the rest of the day observing.

It arrived three days ago but within the interim, she ran some tests that required daily viewing. She snapped several photos in the microscope after she examined the stain among the cells. Her eyes were weary from staring through the eyepiece for hours, there was a knock on her door as she scribbled some notes on Sample 14.

"Come in."

The doors slid open and a familiar voice called to her,"Doctor Hanji, the blood samples have arrived."

"Put them on the counter there, Moblit," she said while pointing to her left.

"Any luck?"

Hanji withdrew from her sample as she drew back. "None of the diseases on this planet can affect them. If anything, they are immune to them. Look here at this one."

He approached as she wheeled her chair to the right, he bent over and saw what she had,"...so hypothetically, they could cure cancer."

"Possible," she said,"but they aren't carbon-based lifeforms. They're silicon-based. Any part of them used on humans could kill us, you've seen their blood, I have literally no idea what would happen if we were to use their body parts for anything, either for medicine or any other use. So much for the body parts for harvesting, they keep disintegrating themselves upon death."

"So what you're telling me is that we know pretty much nothing, there should not be silicon-based lifeforms...at all. Not ever. This isn't Star Trek."

Hanji bounced her pen on the table and leaned back, her arms stretched up before resting back to cradle her head. "Well, it's here and it's real as you and I."

He stood up from the microscope. "What do you suppose we should do, Doctor?"

"I've already come up with containment procedures, writing them up now and I'll propose them in the next meeting. The best I can recommend is to treat them as radiation poisoning and environmental pollution on a massive scale, no pun intended. Maybe have the Jaegers equipped with something to cauterize their corpses, open wounds are expected and what do you do to one? Close it."

"Brilliant, Doctor."

"It's not...it's common logic, and that's only telling us how to cover the situation, not take care of them altogether."

He merely shrugged. "Not everyone on this planet is logical."

She closed her eyes.

"What about your Rangers?"

"We're going to do some physical assessments on them, gotta make sure my girls are good to go in a Jaeger," Hanji replied. "It was supposed to be in the morning but something came up, tonight we'll do the physical tests on them."

"Strange how they're already fit despite being civilians," he commented.

"Oddly, yes, but they could have been health-nuts and had a strong regimen," she passed off to him, it was no surprise he did not know of their true nature. Like him, others outside of administration knew nothing of certain information. She cracked one eye open to spy the blood samples on the counter. "Those are the Langnar's samples, yeah?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Start prepping them, get the raw samples ready on the slides," he immediately went to work and as he did so, she added,"also, you really need to stop with the references to that series."

He merely shrugged.

-...-

Evening, it was usually the real beginning for Hanji when she was usually caught up in her work. But after today, all she wanted was to go home. In her hand was a clipboard with paper and a pen- she was the old-school kind of scientist when it came to observation.

In the training room were two treadmills. Thunderous footfalls and the endless whizzing of the conveyor belts had gone on for over half an hour. Hanji kept notes on what she noticed of them, things outside of quantifiable variables. She noticed that Ymir had kept her pace but had a competitive personality as though she were trying to outdo Ilse.

On the other hand, Ilse maintained a steady pace as though running was natural to her.

Attached to their skin were sensors, it was amazing seeing the human body be pushed to limits beyond anything, well, human.

She remembered doing these sorts of tests during an anatomy course on humans.

"You think you can beat me?" Ymir huffed.

"This isn't a race on who's the fastest, ladies, just how long you can go," Hanji reminded them with a smile. "Try to think of this as running together in the military."

Ymir rolled her eyes and went on, but soon enough, her movements became calmer; she was following Ilse's lead. Soon, their feet were pounding in perfect synchronization. It only happened when they started to talk to one another.

Hanji checked the camera to make sure it was recording.

"Remember when Ma used to walk early in the mornings in the summer?" Ymir asked. "She took that damn dog out...he'd pull on her leash, keep on pulling 'til he found a rabbit!"

"Pretty damn funny," Ilse scoffed, she found herself grinning. "I remember once...I wanted to lose some weight, went out for jogs in the evening, then you'd come riding up on your horse, one hand on the reins and a cig, another on a bottle of beer...you blownin' like that was the biggest cocktease of my life."

"Great teasing you..."

Ilse laughed as much as her lungs allowed her. "You're an asshole, anyone ever told you that?"

"I'd give you a good list of people."

Hanji wrote down on her clipboard- apparently when doing the same thing together, communication is key to making them work at the same pace as one. She wondered if this phenomenon could be seen in a Jaeger.

Her phone beeped and she signaled for Rene to stop the treadmills. The speeds were lowered gradually onto a walk, then eventually the women were let off from their exercise. Data was taken in as Hanji helped remove the sensors off of Ilse. Soon, Ymir was helped by Rene, to which Hanji glanced over to see Ymir pucker her lips teasingly at the assistant.

"Ymir," warned Ilse as Hanji went over to their clothes and handed them their shirts. "C'mon, man."

All Ymir could do was smirk.

"I'd like to ask you ladies a question, if it is alright," Hanji said after she cleared her throat. Rene was putting the devices away and bringing the used sensors to another bin, but Hanji called to her,"Rene, I'll take care of those, have yourself a break."

"Thank you, Doctor," Rene said, she gave a feeble smile to Ymir and walked out of the testing room.

As Ilse put on her shirt, Ymir spoke,"Ain't like we got a choice to say no. What is it, Doc?"

"I'd...like to know how you two are so physically fit," Hanji started,"your files didn't say anything about sports, training, anything..."

"We were in prison for over two years, you think we ain't got nothing to do in there but sit around and wait for the fucking needle?" Ymir asked jokingly. "It's like one of those female prisons where you got cliques...then there was them butch prison guards, they're working out, stuff like that."

Hanji could only imagine what they would look like being in that scenario. She raised a brow and then nodded her head slowly. "Fair enough."

"Sad part is, she's not far from the truth," Ilse admitted, she seemed winded out. Clearly she was not the athletic one out of the two but she was able to keep in touch with the speed. "They let us out to play, we didn't want any trouble so we just hit the gym they had. Took some boxing lessons from several inmates too to make it interesting."

"They let you guys fight?" Hanji inquired.

"Get with the times, it was recreational activity in a way. Gotta admit, it prison wasn't as bad as it looked," she went on. "Bed, food, medicine, got good care, just...prison."

"Hm, the reforms were working then."

Ilse merely shrugged. "Like Ymir told me once, at least look good when they put on you on the table. Don't worry, though, before they shipped us here, higher ups got us somewhat up to code about other fighting styles. Crash-course, basically, but we can improvise."

"Anything else you wanna ask us?" Ymir said, she had suddenly seemed bored just being in one place, she was already tapping her foot.

"...um, about your attitude about this whole situation," Hanji began to point out,"I'd like you guys to, ah, be more sensitive about your rights."

Ymir snorted,"As what?"

"Human beings," Hanji said, to this, Ilse perked up but Ymir did not seem fazed by it. "If there's anything that makes you uncomfortable, anything that you think is wrong, just speak up. Say we're doing a test and something goes haywire on your end; just call out, then I'll terminate the test immediately."

"That doesn't exactly fit in with the description of what this," Ymir whirled her finger around,"is. We were drafted in, we were told to do whatever you people say, and we don't matter as long as the job is done."

Hanji nodded. "Yes, yes, that's true but you are still human beings. With rights. And rights comes with consent. From what I was told, you two volunteered for this so at the very least, you have to be treated like people. Not like some lab rat or anything."

"Funny, coming from a scientist."

"Ymir," Ilse said quietly.

Hanji continued,"Let me just make this clear; I'm not in the military, I'm a civilian, just like you two. I have standards I uphold and basic human rights is one of them. Even when we're talking, just stop me if you do not like the topic. Get it?"

Ymir and Ilse were silent for a moment.

"It's a lot to swallow but believe me...I don't want any deaths, physical or mental. That's not how I roll."

To this, Ymir slowly nodded in agreement. "...nice change to see someone who's considerate to other human beings."

Hanji bowed her head slightly. "I'll take it as a compliment. Well, that's all I wanted you two to know. You're free to go. I'll call for you when ready. Don't get yourselves into trouble, you hear?"

When Ymir turned to head for the door, Ilse met eyes with Hanji. They were not thankful, much to Hanji's dismay; she was hoping to gain some trust. Instead, they were sharp, starkly different from the warmness they usually held; it was like earlier in the morning when she issued her warning. She was doubtful.

One look was all it took.

Hanji could hear her voice say it.

 _'I'm going to hold you to your word.'_

Her thoughts were broken when she heard Ymir call,"Hey, Ilse, you comin'?"

"Yeah," Ilse said, she headed for the door with a slight jog.

When they left, Hanji gently bit at her lip she sighed under her breath,"Blood is thicker, always thicker," as she began to place the equipment away.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or Pacific Rim

* * *

"How am I supposed to get them to trust me?" Hanji asked Erwin.

Too bad Ilse's words echoed within her mind repeatedly.

"It's not a matter of trust, it's observations on them you make and then turn in," he said as they were sitting in the lounge.

A week had passed without incident, as far as she knew. Levi had not rode her ass about them in days so surely there was some sort of peace, particularly from Ymir. She was stirring her coffee as she sat down in front of him. "It does become that when you ask me to ask one of them to spy on the other."

"This was part of the agreement and since you were given custody of them, you must honor it."

"Do they know about this?"

"That's your choice to tell them or not. From what I've seen, Ymir failed to read the Terms and Conditions and just signed away."

Of course he was there are the negotiating table. He was the one who brought them in. Hanji ran her hand through her hair as she asked,"And Ilse?"

"Read everything so I have no doubt she knows about this."

"Jesus Christ, Erwin. Why Ilse anyway?"

"She signed off to another agreement when Ymir left the room. There must be monthly reports on her sister- we're on international ground, Uncle Sam needs a way to keep an eye over his property and this is one of the ways. In turn, you must write a report on Ilse."

"Why do I have to write one of her? She's the least danger-"

"Ilse is still a felon," he deadpanned.

"My god..."

Erwin sipped at his coffee and then placed it down. "If they become a danger, they are to be pulled out of the program and you are given new Rangers. Simple as that."

"Then what happens to them?"

"They get placed back into the hole I dragged them out of. Contract becomes void, they can't do service."

Hanji held her hands in front of her, her palms were open and parallel of one another. "It's like you just...handed them a false hope of freedom, told them they could hold on to it, and then wait for them to screw up to rip that hope away. Sorry for my language but that's just fucked up."

"Property, Hanji."

" _Lives_ , Erwin," she emphasized. "I...don't feel comfortable doing this."

"Do you want to save humanity or do you want to coddle two criminals?"

She covered her face in her hands. "I want to save the goddamn world and keep my humanity if that's too much to ask for. Also, don't give me any of that war crap...and stop talking to me about them like they're not people, it's degrading for them."

Erwin ignored her. "Hanji, just do this."

Her hands from her face, she gently placed them on the table and leaned towards him. "...alright, fine, but I approach them on my terms, no rushing it."

"Whatever you have to do, reports are to be filed at the end of the month." He handed her the contracts and the stipulations regarding this part of a clause she never had the chance to see. Her eyes scanned the pages immediately. "Think of it as a shot at them being rehabilitated or being on probation, does that work in a way?"

"...I suppose so," Hanji said distantly, her mind was already swimming as she tried to digest the fact that they were still felons and that she was being forced to treat them as such.

She did not like it.

-...-

The design room was spacious and it allowed the engineers a place to work freely. It was always crowded, even Hanji had a hard time trying to find the two Rangers among the sea of brilliant minds. She waded through and found a blond man who was being hovered over by an Asian woman and a dark haired man.

"Arlert," Hanji said, the blond looked up from his blueprints.

Eren pointed to the circuitry of a new schematic that they were going over, he commented,"This is a rather large flamethrower, talk about a Kaiju bar-be-Que."

"Funny you should say that, the woman who proposed the idea at the meeting is here," Armin said, he held out his hand. "Doctor Hanji, nice to see you! Welcome to the Design Department, how may I help you?"

Hanji chuckled as Eren and Mikasa extended their hands, she shook them one by one. "Looking for the Langnars, someone said they were here."

"Oh, Ilse and Ymir?" Eren said, Hanji gave a nod. "Uh, saw them an hour ago, Ymir said she was going to grab some drinks. They took out camping at the Titan files."

She tilted her head a bit. "Titan files?"

"Armin came up with an organization thing where all the physical blueprints are in one area per Jaeger," Mikasa clarified, she pointed towards the far end of the room. "It's over in the back there."

"Thanks, guys. Also, if Arlert didn't say, those flamethrowers meant to cauterize wounds on Kaiju after death."

"You didn't tell me that part!" Eren exclaimed.

Armin nodded. "Yeah, it's a rather interesting tool you'll be using..."

She left them to their banter over the schematics.

Hanji had to gently push pass a few other designers before she reached the end of the large room. While technology allowed for holograms to be used in finer detail and simulations, blueprints were still popular to use. At every other desk was a computer that allowed the technicians to play around with measurements and see what could or could not work.

At one of the desks where the crowd was thinning out, Ilse was sitting at one with a stylus in her hand.

She was performing some fine tuning on the circuitry while her free hand was writing down notes.

"Ambidextrous, huh? Only one percent of the population is that," Hanji commented as she pulled up a chair by her.

Ilse distantly hummed in response as she was focused on keeping track of the connections. It was the cockpit, she was concentrating on the dashboard. Her eyes were trained on every detail, her other hand continued to write without having to look. "...did you bring the coffee, Ymir?"

"No, sorry about that," Hanji said, Ilse broke eye contact to glance at Hanji real quick, she went back to work.

"What is it? I'm sort of busy at the moment," Ilse told her distantly.

"Just need to talk about your contract if you have the time."

"...I suppose I need a break on this, plus, Ymir just left. It'll take her at least a good quarter an hour to get what I need," she sighed, she placed her pen down and got up. She stretched a bit, letting her tank top ride up for the sake of cracking her bones. Hanji stood up with her as Ilse led her through a backdoor that led to a catwalk that was several floors above ground level.

In front of them, workers were welding parts together on Braun and Fubar's Jaeger, the Colossal.

Ilse leaned against the railing, Hanji did as well.

She seemed tired, her shoulders dropped as she tried to relax herself.

"Long morning?"

"Yeah, pretty long," she reached into her back pocket of her jeans and took out a pack of cigarettes. "You won't tell, yeah?"

Hanji did not expect her to be a smoker. She merely shrugged as she told her,"International ground."

Ilse lit one up and took a long drag, she offered one to Hanji but the woman shook her head. She stowed the pack away and then exhaled slowly before asking,"What is it you want to know that you hadn't read about?"

"I did do my reading," Hanji said flatly, they were going to pick on her for this. Her mother did say first impressions were important, and right now she was right. "You have to report on your sister, yes?"

"Once a month," Ilse replied,"and I take it they chose you to report on us to?"

"...yes, they did."

"Jesus Christ," she huffed.

"You're lucky it's not Levi, else he'd boot you out the moment you guys set foot in here," Hanji said, she tried to reassure her. Somehow, it worked as Ilse shrugged and nodded. They stayed quiet for a moment as Hanji tried to think of something to say that would not further damage the very little trust Ilse had in her. "Look...I don't want you two to think I'm the enemy."

"You shouldn't be too lenient on us," Ilse warned,"if Ymir thinks you're easy to walk over, she will...or if you're too nice, she'll get paranoid."

Hanji was taken aback by this, she stood up straight and looked at her. Her face contorted into confusion and slight anger, Ilse glanced at her for a moment and then returned her gaze onto the welders.

"What do you want me to do? You want me to keep your sister safe but you don't want me to be nice to her?" Hanji spluttered. "Is there a middle ground to any of this?"

"All I can tell you is that Ymir will not play nice when she thinks she has control over you or that other thing I just told you."

This is ridiculous. That was all Hanji had to think, who knew she would be working with a headcase for her testing? Who thought it was a good idea to bring in felons? Well, she did consent to having them so in that part she was to blame. She expected them to be...men, hardened criminals who she had to deal with. Instead, these were women, and...she did have some sort of bias for her gender.

"I came here to just tell you I have an idea," Hanji said was she got her bearings back.

"What's your brilliant idea, Doctor?" She had a bitter tone when she said the title.

"...I just lie on the reports," Hanji said, Ilse finally turned her head as Hanji held a finger up and went on,"but...I can only do it if there is not severe damage. Like a death or serious injury. I figured you'd be doing the same for her, right?"

Ilse gave a nod. "...yeah, I'm doing that."

"We cool?"

"Suppose so."

"I mean, you're the closest one to her, you know her best so I'm going to need judgement on your end. But seeing how this goes, and I will do my best, I will ensure that you two will be well...this is a second chance, Ilse, for you and Ymir," she pressed on. "It's like...like you two have been given a clean slate, you can build yourselves up here. And when it's all over, you'll be free, besides, you can save up the money you earn from this."

"...I thought we were on probation."

"You are, but you're given a budget over month. Even though you have your status, money flows in through the Program. It's an international effort and if you prove yourselves worthy, you can have money left over to start yourselves. They didn't tell you?"

Ilse shook her head.

"Suppose Ymir isn't the only one who didn't read the fine print," Hanji said, she walked on. "C'mon, if Ymir is back, I can show you two where you get your cash."

"This...this makes this all the more worth it, though I think Ymir will be drinking it away," she murmured the last part but Hanji picked up on it.

She raised a brow as Ilse followed her after snuffing her cigarette. "She drinks?"

"She's an alcoholic," Ilse admitted,"I convinced her to at least hold it in when we're training or holding meetings..."

"Then the urine samples from the other day..."

"Those were mine, Doctor."

Hanji stalled for a moment. She would be taking risks to cover up for them, she chewed at her bottom lip. Ymir would walk all over her, she was already doing so for Ilse. Then again, Ilse was just so dedicated to her, enough that she would falsify a drug test. She nodded it off and walked on.

"It's just another thing to keep a lid on. Don't worry, the results only show what comes out, not who owns it," Hanji assured her. "And previous samples from your time in prison, they ought to be gone by now. Those are just standard procedures to see what chemicals are in your bodies."

"That's comforting," Ilse said as they entered the Design Department. Inside, they found that Ymir had returned with two cups of coffee, both with covers atop.

Ymir drank hers in big swigs as Ilse frowned slightly. "Had fun at the cafe?"

"Yup," Ymir said with a smirk. "What's goin' on here, Doc?"

Hanji noticed a hint of a slur in her voice. "I was just discussing with Ilse that you two are being paid."

Ymir's eyes widened, so did her smile, as she got up, cup still in hand. "We're being paid for this?!"

She looked like a kid who just learned that they were getting a puppy for their birthday. All Hanji could do was smile in turn and nod while telling her,"Indeed you are. Paychecks should come in by the end of the month, though it's only enough to buy the needed things and an apartment if you wish. However, the more Kaiju you bag, the more money there is."

"Sweet!" Ymir said. "Damn, Ils', this is a pretty good gig we got."

"Ymir, the salary is like being in graduate school-"

Ymir shrugged at her sister,"Money is money, don't complain. Where do we go for it?"

"You report directly to the Marshal, he will give you your checks. Once with that, there is a terminal on the ground floor where money is distributed to workers and Rangers, even myself. To prevent congestion, everyone is assigned different days of payment. You two have bank accounts, correct? You will need them for the money to be wired to you."

Ilse scratched the back of her neck, Ymir's smile lessened, the eldest, Ilse, replied,"Those were void when we were arrested."

Hanji scratched her chin. "Hm...and since you two are, well, you know...I don't think you can get accounts on your own. I guess I can open accounts for you two."

"Is that even allowed?"

She had to keep Ymir's issue hidden. For now, breaking her into abstinence would be hard and there was no time to fix the issue if Kaiju could appear at any moment. "I read the rules for you, you can get accounts through the Program, though they were be monitored. But...if I were to, say create ones for yourselves, it can be under my name and it's private."

"So a secret," Ymir pondered.

"Wouldn't they get suspicious of where they money goes?"

"Make two accounts," Hanji said simply.

They both agreed with the idea.

"I have some free time for now, but I don't exactly have a suitable car- mine is a two seat."

Ymir pipped up,"We brought our truck from home, had a neighbor bring it for us when we got out."

"Fantastic! Let's get going then- wait, how come you have a car? You aren't supposed to..."

"We have friends here."

-...-

Indeed Ymir had friends, Hanji discovered them to be two technicians who worked on the suits for Rangers. Ironically, they were working for the Langnars when the time would come and they were both the same age as Ymir.

"Hey," Ymir called to them, they turned their heads to glance at the three that entered the storage facility. They seemed to be taking inventory as they had pads in their hands. "You got my keys?"

The taller one, Sasha, was around Hanji's height; her hair was a darker shade of brown, her eyes bright with excitement. Her companion and coworker, Connie, was the shortest, baldest man Hanji ever met, other than Levi. Both of these two she knew, after all, they passed her personal tests to ensure that they were certified to handle the equipment not too long ago, maybe a week or so.

They sere surprised to see Hanji with them.

"Doc?" Sasha asked curiously. "What'cha doin' here?"

"Running errands," Hanji said simply,"Ymir elected to let us use her truck for today."

"Um...is she cool?" Connie asked.

"She is," Ilse assured them.

Connie and Sasha glanced at one another, then shrugged. Whatever Ilse said seemed to persuade them; she knew them as well.

"Connie, get the key from my bunk," Sasha said while keeping her eyes on Hanji, he nodded and walked out of storage. When he was gone, she folded her arms as she tucked her pad under her armpit. Her brow creased. "...ya ain't gonna rat us out, eh?"

Hanji merely shook her head. "I don't see a reason to, though it's obvious that we're violating several protocols together."

"Sasha and Connie are alright, they know," Ymir told the cautious doctor. "I went to school with them, only difference was that they graduated."

"I didn't know you studied with them," Hanji admitted, she did recall they attended MIT but she never figured that they knew one another. "Small world, isn't it?"

"Not really, we decided to not fight Kaiju in person," Sasha pointed out,"a hunt that big, it ain't gonna go well. With the tools we got now, not much information on them t'begin with, I ain't goin' in."

"They gave up their spots for us," Ymir told her,"we were given a choice of whether to be mechanics or Rangers...every Kaiju we kill, we get reduced time. When I heard these two were in the Program, I asked them to step down and they did on the drop of a hat the day we came in first."

Hanji thought for a moment. She remembered that weeks ago, when the Langnars came in, Erwin gave her a notification that they meeting would take place at a later date than what was originally set. Perhaps Ymir was busy negotiating the contract some more on Ilse's stead for once, then they signed the papers. Something went on that Hanji was not aware of.

These two technicians that now took inventory on Jaeger equipment could have been her pilots.

She did recall that Sasha and Connie served in the military for maybe two years before K-Day happened.

She now thought that they would have been more suitable candidates as Rangers but there was a difference between them and the Langnars; they were unwilling to fight.

"What got you two into the Program?"

"We were drafted after we did service in Syria," Sasha said simply. "Sure, we were in battle but we weren't exactly fighting, just tech stuff, y'know? Apparently, Program's lookin' for those first but I'm surprised Ymir and Ilse there got in as well. Moment Ymir called me up and asked for our positions, we dropped it under finding replacements for us."

"That's...oddly kind of you," Hanji commented.

"It worked and we're here as we are."

Sasha gave a quick smile, she then went back to work.

After a few minutes, Connie returned with a set of keys; he tossed them to Ymir who, in turn, gave them to Hanji. She pocketed them and led the two women out and into the hallway.

-...-

In truth, Hanji never drove a truck before, let alone a stick-shift.

Ilse sat in the passenger's side and instructed her. She was patient in teaching her but Hanji did her best to learn quick. After roving in the parking lot for nearly half an hour, they were on the road; she kept herself focused on all four controls as Ymir close to the window and took swigs of her 'coffee'.

She was humming to herself.

"You're lucky the Doctor isn't running tests today," Ilse told Ymir, she was obviously displeased,"we're supposed to be working on schematics."

"My best work comes from a few shots."

Ilse brought her face into her palm as Hanji smiled at their banter.

They were amusing.

Upon arriving at the bank, Ilse took Ymir's cup and threw it away, telling her,"Behave," before they walked in.

Paperwork was passed among the three of them, background checks were overlooked when Hanji said they were from the Program. The teller gave Ymir an odd look when she gave him a goofy smile. Ilse stepped on Ymir's toes and prompted her to straighten up a bit. They waited for a bit and soon enough, they were given their credit cards.

Hanji pocketed hers in her wallet, so did the other two, after they activated them at the ATM.

"Alright, ladies, now you have your cards, you can have your money," Hanji said as they headed to the truck.

"Sweeeet," Ymir said, she reached into her back pocket and took out a whiskey flask. She sipped at it before clambering into the truck.

Hanji merely shook her head as Ilse sighed,"She'll prolly forget that you got her the card...so thanks from the both of us."

"Don't worry," Hanji told her.

-...-

She was back in her office.

There were numerous infractions she had committed within an hour. She was pretty sure she violated a lot of protocols that could get her fired but at the same time, she was pretty damn sure it would be hard for Erwin to find a replacement. She wondered how long it would take for them to trace the cards to her, if they could.

Hanji shook off her thoughts.

This was one of the ways she would try to gain their trust to work better with them.

But for now, science.

Hours pass into the evening, her eyes grew weary from coding the DNA sequence of the Kaiju that landed in San Francisco, she needed more samples from other Kaiju to research further. She placed the stylus down, saved the coding, and turned off the hologram at her desk.

Time for coffee.

She huffed under her breath as she remembered that Ymir was drinking so damn early in the morning.

She made her way up to the cafe; it was closer than the lounge she usually went to.

Inside the cafe, the news was rolling on TV, something ignored it as she ordered black coffee with four shots of espresso. Her tolerance was too high for smaller amounts. Once she was given her coffee, she sat down and drank it, the cafe did not make it hot enough to scald so that workers could have it on the go.

Her eyes drifted up to the news, she had taken her seat by the television.

Something about Hitch's show becoming a new hit, celebrities were on there constantly. She found it interesting to watch but not enough interesting to follow it religiously. As she sipped, the news cut off and began to show news feed that was in some Asian language. Some woman was frantically reporting as the screen cut to a Kaiju landing somewhere in Asia.

 _Manila, Philippines._

Hanji immediately spat her coffee out, dousing the screen as workers began to gather around.

Alarms were rung seconds after and she frantically got up, she shoved away workers as she spilled her coffee trying to get out.

She needed to get her hands on that sample that was crashing through a building at the moment. Once out in the hallway, she made a full sprint to the conference room where Erwin and the others were gathered around to watch two Jaegers readying for deployment.

"I need samples!" She shouted excitedly. "Tell them to get me samples! A-anything! Skin, organ, brain maybe? Everything!"

"Why don't you fly out there your own damn self and collect them?" Levi scoffed.

"Marshal!" Hanji pleaded as the Kaiju tore through the numerous shanties along the coast and moved on into the skyscrapers. "C'mon! I can't do my work if have nothing to work with but just footage!"

Erwin glanced at her, then he looked at the Marshal from the Hong Kong Shatterdome. "You heard the woman, get her what she needs when you clean up. Harvest the entire beast if you have to, just bring something back for our researchers..."

"Affirmative."


End file.
